Terry Maxon The Dallas Morning News 16, 2014 View the original piece American Airlines passenger service agents have voted to be represented by a coalition of the Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Teamsters. AA’s agents, who staff the gates and counters at airports and handle reservations, had voted down the CWA in 2013, prior to the Dec. 9 merger of US Airways and American. Click here to read more at The Dallas...

Jenny Brown Labor Notes 15, 2014 View the original piece Voting ends today for American Airlines passenger service agents deciding whether to unionize, with results tomorrow. The vote is a result of the merger between American and US Airways, which created the largest airline in the world—and the largest union representation election in the U.S. this year. The agents handle reservations, check in passengers and baggage, and staff airline gates. A third of them—the 5,500...

Seeking Alpha 12, 2014 View the original piece America's largest parcel delivery company United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) earns the lion's share of its total revenue from domestic operations. Now, the company's keen on widening its international reach, particularly in the emerging markets. With rising per capita income leading to higher discretionary spending among the middle-class population, emerging economies are offering huge growth potential to courier companies. Over the last decade, UPS has tried to make its presence felt in China,...

Rip Watson Transport Topics 11, 2014 View the original piece Teamsters union organizing efforts are advancing at FedEx Freight and Con-way Freight, the two largest nonunion less-than-truckload carriers, according to National Labor Relations Board records. At Con-Way, Local 657 led the effort for a representation election supervised by the National Labor Relartions Board that has been set for Sept. 12 in Laredo, Texas, according to NLRB officials. Click here to read more.

George Zornick The Nation 11, 2014 View the original piece For years, the American labor movement has been on the defensive as it has become harder and harder for workers to join or maintain a union. But some House Democrats are planning a dramatic counter-offensive: a bill that would make union organizing a civil right. Representatives Keith Ellison and John Lewis plan to introduce a bill Wednesday that would make labor organizing a basic freedom no different...

Joellen Leavelle Pension Rights Center 09, 2014 View the original piece Forty years ago this week, bell-bottom jeans were still in style, the Vietnam War was coming to a close, and Watergate was still riveting the nation.   Against this backdrop of social unrest, there was also a focus on broken pension promises. Back then, tens of thousands of people were losing their pensions because few laws existed to regulate pension plans. A worker could lose...

Ann Brown Madame Noire 03, 2014 View the original piece When you work overtime, you're supposed to get paid for it. And more employees are saying they aren't and they're suing. A group of warehouse workers are set to get more than $20,000 in back pay each as part of a recent $21 million legal settlement with national trucking company Schneider. Click here to read more at Madame Noire.

Howard Abramson Fleet Owner 03, 2014 View the original piece In my many years covering trucking, I’ve been surprised by the industry’s steadfastly antagonistic approach to government attempts to impose new regulations and requirements to improve safety. By and large, fleets seem to look upon safety regulations as a burden to be resisted when possible and to be grudgingly endured only when active political resistance fails. While I accept that most fleets strive to reduce...

Oliver Patton Truckinginfo.com 02, 2014 View the original piece Comments on the proposed electronic logging device mandate cover the full spectrum of reactions, from outrage and disdain at Big Brother government to applause for a sensible and long-overdue safety rule. Most of the 2,213 comments are from individuals who do not like what the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is planning to do. Many include substantive suggestions for how to improve what the agency is...

Transport Topics 28, 2014 View the original piece In the latest decision on worker status, a federal appeals court in California ruled that 2,300 workers at FedEx Corp.’s Ground unit were employees and not contractors to the package delivery company. The 35-page decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, ruled that the Ground workers were misclassified as independent contractors, in violation of California law. Click here to read more at Transport Topics.